


The Eagle Returns to the Coop.

by BunnyJess



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blue Team, Blue Team are life, Confusion, F/M, Family, Fluff, GIVE BLUE TEAM A HAPPY ENDING, Gen, Happy Ending, John Returns, Spartans for always, Stupid Feelings, and Del Rio, but mainly flufffff, like all the fluff, mentions of Halsey, set after the events of Halo 4, the peanut, there is a slight bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 02:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14094861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/pseuds/BunnyJess
Summary: John finally returns to the Infinity and see's three Spartans he is sure he knows.





	1. Chapter 1

John walked slowly towards the armoury. The last few days had taken it out of him, he was completely finished and all he wanted to do was just sleep. Sleep would allow him to forget the pain and the emptiness currently occupying his head. The only friend he’d had for the last 4 years was gone, ripped from him in the throes of victory. He’d lost many sisters and brothers over the years, and seen valued colleagues murdered or sacrifice themselves around him but this was different. Cortana had a special bond with the Spartan, she’d been a part of him for so long he felt incomplete and he wasn’t sure what could possibly fix this feeling.

        The long walk to the station and the waiting tech’s seemed to drag on forever, but he was eager to shed his armour because then he wouldn’t be expecting Cortana’s presence in the back of his head. As the armour fell from his weary muscles his mind started to ease slightly, no longer feeling trapped in his armour with no one to help him out. As his helmet rose from his head, lifted by the servos, he took a deep breath. The air missed that unique tang the air scrubbers in his suit gave it, something about it didn’t feel right but he was glad to be out of his armour. Thanking the tech’s surrounding him who still looked slightly star-struck, he set off towards the barracks of S-Deck where he’d been informed he had his own room to give him some space.

        John was halfway down the deck when he instinctively stopped; slowly he turned and saw what had caused him to pause. Stood not far from where he’d just come from were three individuals, all stood staring at him. John wasn’t sure who they were but something seemed familiar about them as they started walking towards him. The way they walked, the way they moved as one unit was so familiar yet so strange. The three figures came to a holt just in front of him, John had some semblance of how regular members of the UNSC felt when he and his team had walked amongst them. These silent pillars of Mjolnir armour stood unspeaking before him, John was picking up subtle hand gestures that again seemed all too familiar to him but in his weary and mentally exhausted state he just couldn’t piece it all together.

        Then there was movement, the shortest of the three (by some margin) stepped closer to John and reached out their arm. Their hand formed into two fingers outstretched, when they were hovering but a few millimetres from Johns face they made a sideways swipe, a smile of sorts. John froze, memories rushing back to him. A lifetime of fighting, of worry, of victories, shrouded in losses and faces. Faces of those he knew, faces that had been lost to him for so long, and faces he thought he’d never see again. That’s when the Spartan closest to him de-polarized their visor. Staring back at him was the person who had always been closest to him, his shadow through most of his life, the woman who he had professed his love to only in his thoughts. Stood before him was Spartan Kelly-087 Petty Officer Second Class.

        The two behind her also de-polarized their visors and the faces of Fredrick-104 and Linda-058 greeted him. He pulled Kelly into a hug not caring about how uncomfortable it was with her rough Mjolnir armour and started to sob. His legs went limp and Kelly supported his weight, lowering them slowly to the floor. Fred and Linda surrounded them and helped pick John up. In his exhausted state seeing all of them again had been too much and he’d passed out. Kelly and Linda walked off with John in Kelly’s arms to their private quarters. Fred stood and looked around, seeing all the eyes of the Spartan IV’s looking at them. He activated his external speakers and bellowed “DON’T YOU ALL HAVE THINGS TO BE GETTING ON WITH?!” The IV’s snapped back to what they were doing, the feelings of inadequacy trickling through the IV’s as Fred followed the others.

        When John woke it was two days later. Kelly had been by his side the entire time whilst Fred and Linda took it in shifts to keep unwanted visitors away. Some of the command wanted Blue team back up and active but Fred had told Captain Lasky that no matter what Highcom wanted, they weren’t moving until John was fully rested and rehabilitated from his time away from the UNSC.Kelly wanted to give them some of the archaic gestures she knew, her family weren’t going active until John could join them. Kelly thrust a drink into his hand as he sat up.

“Thanks Kels, I don’t feel thirsty though?” John’s voice cracked due to so little use. “I persuaded one of the lovely navy docs to put you on a drip whilst you were asleep.” She said with a gentle smile. John glanced at his arm and sure enough there was a cannula in place, he reached up and shut off the mechanism before carefully pulling out the cannula.

        Still groggy John attempted to sit up but wobbled slightly. His legs weren’t used to this much rest, compared to the amount of sleep he usually got it was like a year’s worth all in one go. Kelly helped him to the toilet and then back to his bunk. “How long have you been on the Infinity?”

“We shuttled on not long after it arrived back in Earth’s orbit, Del Rio was taking it back down to Earth after he was relieved of command by Admiral Hood.” Kelly updated him. John felt a small smile creep over his lips, he had taken an unusual disliking to Captain Del Rio during his short time aboard the Infinity above Requiem.

        “So what about Blue? Where are the others? And I only saw Fred and Linda, what happened to Will?” John asked in a rush.

“Fred and Linda are off getting lunch at the moment, they’ll be back shortly. As for Will, he died a few years back.”  Sadness filled Kelly’s voice at the mention of her fallen brother. John stiffened at hearing of another brother lost so Kelly carried on talking. “Remember when Halsey ran off with me? Well we ended up crash-landing on this forerunner shield world called Onyx. Turns out it was being used by Colonel Ackerson to train his Spartan IIIs.”

“I thought Mendez went off to train them decades ago?” John managed to ask as Kelly took a breath, he looked confused now also concerned for his mentor and closest thing to a father he’d ever had. “He was, not straight away as Halsey mothballed her Spartan program after us, but Ackerson picked it up. He also used one of our own to train them, as their leader.”

John sat bolt upright; hope, panic and fear forcing their way through. “Who Kelly, who did he take?!” Kelly could see a fire in his eyes, the very idea of one of his Spartans being taken to do Ackerson’s bidding infuriating him. “It was Kurt. John, we found Kurt. Unfortunately we lost him too.” John’s heart broke again, could there be no happy ending for any of his Spartans, for his family?

        Kelly went on to detail the events of the battle for Onyx and how Will had died taking on two Hunters in hand-to-hand combat and how Kurt had died saving them all. Kelly also mentioned how before he died he had promoted Fred to Lieutenant. John had agreed that this was a good choice as Fred was a strong leader, and just then Fred and Linda entered the room. John stood and snapped to attention.

“Easy brother, you of all people don’t need to do that. You’re still lead in my mind, that’ll never change.” Fred’s arms gripped John’s shoulders tightly before pulling him in for a tight embrace. He stepped away and Linda took her turn, wrapping her arms around him and nearly snapping him in half with a bear hug. As they all stepped back from him and saluted John returned the gesture and then wiped a small tear away from his eye.

        “You know I was convinced I would never see any of you again, didn’t really think I’d see any humans again if I’m honest. But now I’m here with you all again, this is how it will stay. No more running off with mad doctors or dying and getting put on ice!” They all chuckled at his attempt at humour. This is where we belong, so this is how it will be, ‘til the end! Agreed?”

“Here, here brother” Fred responded. John set his empty plate down at the end of his bunk and stood, “Having said all that, Kelly can I speak to you alone for a minute?”

“Of course John!” she replied, as the other two stood and left.

        “I had a lot of time to think whilst I was away from humanity Kels, and one of the best thinking partners you could ask for. Cortana was the only one who really ever knew everything that was going on in my head.” Kelly reached out and took hold of his hand, attempting to comfort him. “But some things I’ve never told anyone, I even kept them from her and now I will never have the chance to say them. I don’t want that to happen again, I don’t want things to end without the chance to tell people how I truly feel.” John turned and looked her directly in the eyes. “You’ve been the only constant in my life Kelly, we’ve always been close and I feel like I’ve always known how I truly felt but suppressed it because it wasn’t the time or place. I know now though that there might never BE the right time or place so I’m doing it now.” Kelly’s face blushed a little, she knew what he was about to say and had run through the scenario of telling him exactly the same. 

        John closed his eyes; this was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do and so willed himself to do it. When he opened his eyes however, Kelly had moved. She was down on one knee with a small box held up to him. Kelly had always been quicker than he had. “John, I couldn’t agree more. As soon as I heard you were back I went and got this, because I can’t risk losing you without you knowing either.” John laughed and then they spoke in unison “Will you marry me?”


	2. Kelly's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rabbit gets to see her Eagle for the first time in four years.

Fred, Kelly and Linda stood surveying the armoury of S-Deck, trying to spot him. They’d been told John had returned and instantly ran down to S-Deck. Kelly had made a detour along the way but it never took her long to accomplish anything. They’d stood waiting for hours until they were told there were needed on a minor mission and would be back before John was even out of debriefing and his mandatory psych eval. With a decent amount of grumbling through their secure team line they agreed; the job always came first, after all. Sure enough they made it back to the Infinity and were told he was on his way down. They stood motionlessly watching the deck, looking for their long lost brother. Kelly harnessed her years of training to push the nerves aside, he was _finally_ home.

“There!” Linda’s voice cracked over the comms pointing to a mjolnir prep station. Of course Linda was the first to spot him, but there he was as real as the air she breathed. Kelly enhanced her HUD and stared at his face. His eyes were wrong. He’d always carried the weight of his fellow Spartan’s deaths, but now they were missing any spark of life at all. Kelly felt a tear roll down her cheek and was glad for the polarized faceplate. John stepped off the platform and started heading towards their quarters and they moved to him. Suddenly he paused and turned to face them. He looked lost but found all at the same time. Confusion riddled his face.

“He doesn’t recognise us” Fred said. “Would you after what he’s been through recently?” Linda replied. Kelly made a cutting motion “We should stop talking to ourselves and do something to help him”.

        Kelly stepped closer to John; to the man she knew she’d loved since those first days of boot. She reached out to him and performed their signature ‘Spartan smile’ across his face. Wanting to touch him but not wanting his first touch to be of a gauntleted hand. A small smile cracked over his dried out lips, he was starting to remember. As tears streamed down her face she realised what she had to do to bring him back to them. Her faceplate depolarized and the soul flooded back to his eyes, the colours becoming more vibrant and everything she remembered. He saw her, he saw them all. That’s when Kelly saw his legs start to buckle. They moved as one and supported him as he passed out.

        “No I’m not leaving his side. I lost him for too long I’m not going to be somewhere else when he wakes up” she said as the navy doctor finished placing a IV bag to keep him hydrated. “Okay fine,” Fred backed off, “Linda and I will take it in shifts to keep everyone off our backs and get food.” Kelly nodded as she took John’s hand into hers. As the hours passed she watched him sleep, his dreams seemed pleasant as he didn’t wake or become panicked like he used to. The second day passed and, before she could start properly worrying, Kelly noticed the tell-tale signs of John’s sleep coming to an end. She rushed to the sink and filled up and glass for John should he need a drink.

        When he roused Kelly immediately shoved the drink into his hand. “Thanks Kels, I don’t feel thirsty though?” he seemed confused. Kelly explained how she’d gotten a Doc to hook him up and watched him carefully removed himself from the IV. Once they’d returned from the toilet John asked “How long have you been on the Infinity?” As Kelly replied, giving the story of their return and then their adventures since they’d all parted ways. She watched as a variety of emotions played over his face; the joys of hearing about Kurt, only to be crushed hearing of his death, and the understanding when told of Fred’s promotion to lieutenant.

        Just at that moment Fred and Linda returned, and John instantly snapped to attention. “Easy brother, you of all people don’t need to do that. You’re still lead in my mind, that’ll never change.” Fred then embraced his brother, relieved to have him back. As Linda took her turn they all stood and saluted him. John returned it and wiped away a small bead from his face and Kelly fought to hold back her own. To see him so raw and exposed was new to them all; he had always been a rock around them. She knew with him back by their side he could get through all he’d been through. Kelly had only experienced him letting his guard down a few times but never like this.

        John spoke to them all “You know I was convinced I would never see any of you again, didn’t really think I’d see any humans again if I’m honest. But now I’m here with you all again, this is how it will stay. No more running off with mad doctors, or dying and getting put on ice!” they couldn’t help but laugh. John had never been one to crack jokes as he’d always assumed the mantle of team leader but it was a welcome change. “This is where we belong, so this is how it will be, ‘til the end! Agreed?” Fred spoke for them all, as he agreed with John’s statement. Then all of a sudden, John asked Kelly to one side.

        They sat down in their ready room, facing each other and John spoke to her like he never had before, so open, so full of hurt. Speaking of how he’d always kept his true feelings to himself, even with Cortana and how he regretted not being able to tell Cortana everything. He told Kelly he never wanted to miss an opportunity to speak his mind again and Kelly knew what was coming. The moment they’d been told about John, she knew what she needed to do. She’d headed down to the store on Infinity and headed to the pricier end of the store. The Spartans never spent their salary, too busy earning it to use it, so Kelly had amassed quite a fortune since they’d started their careers and she planned to use some of it today.

        She walked straight over to the jewellery section and found the perfect ring almost instantly. It was plain and simple, but was pure and rare, just like John. She knew his finger size, she knew everything about him. She went straight to the counter and bought it before re-joining the rest of her team on S-Deck to wait for him.

        Kelly saw John’s eyes close and knew this was her opportunity to surprise him, beat him to it again (she always got a kick out of that). When he opened his eyes Kelly had dropped to her knees and she had pulled out the little box she’d kept in her pocket ever since. “John, I couldn’t agree more. As soon as I heard you were back I went and got this, because I can’t risk losing you without you knowing either.” Kelly spoke slowly as a tear rolled down her cheek once more. She looked John in the eye and they spoke together “Will you marry me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to try to do Linda and Fred's POV at some point too. I feel like this explored how Kelly felt about John's return, while linking in with the first chapter fairly well.


End file.
